Arts Center hosts ‘Love Letters’ fundraiser

What: “Love Letters,” a 2-person play featuring “notable” Community members
Where: Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
When: Thurs. - Sat., April 17-19. 7 p.m.

Come experience a profound and emotionally rich love story between childhood friends: the staid, dutiful lawyer Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and the lively, unstable artist Melissa Gardner. Their bittersweet and seemingly unlikely romance unfolds through a lifelong correspondence of notes, letters and cards in eminent American playwright A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters.” The Pulitzer-nominated play comes to the Durango Arts Center Stage starting Thurs., April 17 and runs three nights, each featuring a separate pair of Durango notables. Proceeds from ticket sales will support improvements for the DAC theatre.

Thursday night’s show features Judith Reynolds and Gordon Thomas. Reynolds, an art historian, journalist, critic and lecturer, sings in several choirs and on the side is a political cartoonist for the Durango Herald. Thomas was a professor of English at the University of Idaho for 26 years until he moved to Durango, where was his wife took a job in administration at Fort Lewis College. When not skiing or cycling, he serves on the boards of Music in the Mountains and the Durango Choral Society, of which he is also a member.

Friday’s show features the duo of Jack Llewelyn and Meredith Mapel, who spent eight years acting in the Chicago area. She received a B.A. in Theatre Performance from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.,  and also studied at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Joffrey School of Ballet in New York and Aspen Ballet in Aspen. Llewelyn, best known as the executive director of the Durango Chamber of Commerce, has also worked as a radio DJ and manager for local radio and television groups.

And last but not least, Saturday’s show will feature Beth Drum and Rich Fletcher. Drum has worked for Alpine Bank for 17 years;  the first 15 years in Glenwood Springs and the last two in Durango. Since moving to Durango, she has volunteered on many local boards including those for Mercy Health Foundation, Mercy Regional Medical Center and the Women’s Resource Center. 

Fletcher attended FLC and went on to start the cable TV program, Inside Durango TV. He now owns Solo Arts LLC, producing film projects in locations from Durango to Nepal. Rich has served many local nonprofits and his credits include many awards including the Spirit of Durango.

“This is quite something to pull together and that these ‘influencers’ of our community are doing this project for DAC Theatre,” Artistic Director and Theatre Manager Theresa Carson said. “I don’t think anyone will see the likes of Jack Llewellyn or Beth Drum on a stage again!

“And it is a fundraiser as I need a back curtain and window coverings,” she added as a side note.

Tickets for “Love Letters” are $22 in advance or $26 at the door. For more info., go to .